This blog explores the impacts of student loans on the lives of students. It’s intended to get students and their parents thinking about how much debt they take on in their pursuit of a college degree, what they expect to receive in exchange for taking on that debt burden. This blog is in favor of education, but not education at any price. It will frequently touch on larger issues in higher education, although it doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Many questions it will explore are thorny and not easily resolved.

Its author, Carrie, has a good bit of student loan debt herself. In fact, most people she knows have loans. Some have huge loans and no jobs. Some have loans and no degrees. Others have few loans and great jobs. Now that she works in the higher education system, her goal in writing this blog is to explore the good and the bad of the student loan and higher education business. If by writing this blog she prods a few incoming students to think carefully about how their decisions will impact the rest of their lives, she will consider it a success. (So do comment and let her know if this blog has helped you!)